


Darkest Whispers

by Caitloinsteak



Category: Pentatonix
Genre: Abuse, Abused Mitch, Abusive Relationships, Past Abuse, Protective Scott, Sexual Abuse
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-09-25
Updated: 2018-09-25
Packaged: 2019-07-17 12:16:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,182
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16095488
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Caitloinsteak/pseuds/Caitloinsteak
Summary: People change sometimes, its good and sometimes its not so good. Mitch returns after being trapped in a relationship for 4 years. Mitch has his secrets, who doesn't have secrets. His are just a bit more extreme.(a.n I am very bad at summaries)





	1. Chapter 1

It was him who had voiced the idea of living separately, but it wasn't his choice. He had so desperately wanted Scott to say no, to save him from having to move in with Beau, but he didn't. That's who Scott is. He doesn't want to hold Mitch back so of course he agreed, so Mitch left, moved in with Beau. Scott moved out a couple of months after and then they announced it, together. Told the people who asked that it was because they wanted to see what it was like to be more independent, they didn't tell the fans the truth, that Mitch had left so he could move in with his boyfriend. To the rest of the world they looked happy. Scott was happy sure, but there were times when he would need his best friend with him and he wasn't there. Mitch was miserable, he was pushing everyone away. He needed Scott but he couldn't go to him.

It was different living away from Scott, quieter, more lonely. There were no more wine nights or drunken conversations. The house was silent, sometimes Mitch would wake up and get ready for Scott to come and get him for their daily Starbucks run, then he would remember when he felt Beau moving beside him. The house was too quiet without Beyonce blasting in the kitchen which would fill the whole house. He was so used to coming down stairs and hearing Scott practising his parts for the new pentatonix song, or listening to Scott excitedly talk about ideas for new superfruit videos. Those videos stopped when Mitch moved, everything stopped for Scott when Mitch moved. Mitch had left him, he was alone in the superfruit house, it didn't feel right living there alone, the house was for the two of them. He would spend hours just sitting in the superfruit room texting Mitch that he had a video idea and then Mitch not replying. It became too painful, he went to Mason and Mark for advice and ended up moving out and finding a new house, close to Mitch of course.

Mitch couldn't really pinpoint exactly when his smile became more forced, it just happened so gradually. He couldn't pinpoint the exact moment when Beau became less loving, less caring, because even he didn't notice it at first. It was so subtle and yet so, so effective. It was only when Mitch moved away from Scott, just under 2 years into the relationship that he began to notice that he had no control in his relationship, Beau was making all the decisions. What he does know is that Beau loved him, he had to, he just had a different way of showing it. What he didn't know was that by being with Beau he was slowly getting pushed over the edge, it wasso slow that nobody would be able to tell until it was too late to stop him from falling down a dark hole, or in this case falling into a life that he had no control over, a world where he was trapped.

As the relationship reached its second year Mitch began to deteriorate, and people began to notice. The strict diet Beau had put him under was taking affect. The already slim tenor was losing weight very fast, and the fans began to notice. Scott noticed as well, he noticed before even Mitch did. He couldn't do anything about it of course because he only ever saw Mitch at band events, and Mitch would never reply to his texts or answer his calls. He wanted to, but he wasn't allowed to, but Scott didn't know that and slowly the friendship between the two of them began to slip. The fans complained about his absence on social media and in Scott's life, but it wasn't his choice. Beau would complain that he wasn't grateful for everything he had done for Mitch, he would say he was helping Mitch improve his personality and his life, and Mitch believed him. Of course he believed him. Beau loved him.

The first time he got hit was half way through their second year. Beau had come home from work, he had a bad day. Mitch was sitting on the couch scrolling through Twitter, it was rare for him to be able to get on his phone. He was replying to some fans, liking some tweets. He liked one of Scott's tweets, and then another one, and another one, just to let him know that he was thinking about him, and then Beau came in, Mitch stayed where he was and barely looked up at the sound of Beau's footsteps walking towards him. He cleared his throat and Mitch looked up to meet his gaze, it was at that moment that Scott had received the alerts that Mitch had liked his photos, he didn't know whether to be happy or angry at his friend who hadn't contacted him in almost a year except from when he was forced to. He was going to ignore it when he remembered the photo Mitch had posted on his Instagram earlier that day. He remembered how thin he looked, his cheekbones stuck out more than they should, the shadows round his eyes had gotten darker. He remembered looking through the comments and seeing the fans asking him if he was okay and why he was so skinny. After he remembered he was unable to ignore the small sign of communication and turned his phone back on and texted him.

Beau looked down at Mitch's phone as the ringer went off, his eyes snapped back up to Mitch's after reading the name that had appeared on the screen. "Why is Scott texting you?" He asked, Mitch flinched at his accusing tone. He could see the vein on Beau's forehead had popped out, strained against the skin. His breathing hard and his hands shaking with anger at the thought of Scott taking something that belonged to him. Mitch didn't reply which had only angered Beau more, his already bad mood increased immediately. "I don't know." Mitch had told him, but he did know, Scott had seen his quiet call for help. The answer had fed the the fire within Beau. There was a loud slap that echoed through the large house, Mitch had flown off the couch and hit his head off of the coffee table. Beau was lost for words at his actions and he looked at his boyfriend with wide eyes full of horror, a hand rose shakily to cover his gaping mouth. Then he left. He had left Mitch alone to deal with the cut on his eyebrow that later resulted in a black eye and his red cheek. It has taken Mitch months to realise that the relationship was not healthy, but by that time he was already trapped. He couldn't leave because Beau had made Mitch believe that he needed Beau, that his band and his friends were nothing. Mitch would be noting without Beau. Mitch loved him, but he hater him all the same.

Mitch was fed lies, so many lies that he became unable to tell what was true and what wasn't. Beau liked it that way, it meant Mitch distances himself from everyone, he hardly left the house. The band were still active but only just, they had to push back their tour. Mitch just wasn't the same, he couldn't bring himself to reach those incredibly high notes, he could hardly bring himself to put passion behind the words he was singing. A song from their second last album had been highly requested, but Mitch couldn't bring himself too sing it. How could he sing about being proud of who he was, when he didn't even know anymore? How could he sing about there being no more monsters when he was the one living with one? He couldn't put the in the passion that the song needed for it to sound right, he couldn't sing a lot of the songs, the ones that talked about an amazing relationship, or that talked about the liberation of getting out of a relationship, because he couldn't remember those feelings. The band was too worried to focus on their parts, there were constant worry filled glances thrown Mitch's way when his voice would suddenly go or when he had a limp or a bruise would start to show through his makeup due to sweat from their long rehearsals which in the end were all for nothing.

Beau was sorry the first time he was violent, he had voiced his apology. He was sorry the second time, and the third time. He was really sorry the fourth time and ran like he did the first time, but after that he stopped caring. Beau would go to work, come home in a bad mood and take it out on Mitch if he found a reason to. Mitch was living in his own personal hell, he couldn't talk to anyone about it. He had isolated himself from all of his friends, all of the people who really cared. The thankyouMitch hashtag had started up again, along with multiple others all trying to figure out what was wrong with him, hoping that the positive comments and paragraphs would be enough for Mitch to pull through and get better. It helped, if course it helped the fans always helped. The comments would give him reasons to keep living even on his darkest days when that was the last thing he wanted to do. They were enough to keep his head above the water but they wouldn't be able to save him from his own home, his own mind. He wanted to leave, but he also didn't. He doesn't know if he could handle being back in control of his own decisions after being deprived from the privilege for almost a year. Beau knew what was best for him, Beau loved him. So he stayed.

At the beginning of their third year Mitch became inactive on twitter, Instagram, and in life in general. He just didn't care anymore, the band chats had been blowing up about having to think of an album theme, but Mitch couldn't even begin to think about singing. He had become a ghost, only ever popping up every couple of months, liking a tweet, liking a picture, but never posting. He knew that he looked sick, he knew that he was too skinny, he knew that he wasn't safe. He couldn't do anything about it though, how could he, he was trapped. He cut off all contact from his friends, he had stopped reading through the hashtags that at some point began to trend worldwide. He loved his fans, he loved his friends, but he didn't love them as much as he loved Beau.

It took Mitch a couple of days over the four year mark to leave the relationship. It took him four years to realise that he was so close to the edge of a cliff, he was so close to losing everything. He had cut out his friends, sure, but they still cared, Scott still cared. Some of the fans had given up, they lost faith in him, but others didn't, they fought for him. They helped him leave. They helped him build up the courage to pack his bags and leave. It was something he had wanted to do for years but didn't realise it, deep down he knew that Beau didn't love him, but he had just been to caught up in all of Beau's lies to realise. Pentatonix had taken a break, they couldn't do anything. They didn't want to find a knew tenor because they had faith in Mitch. That pushed him to leave so that he could prove himself to his band. They didn't replace him, they couldn't continue without him. It showed Mitch he was needed. That gave him enough courage to stand up to Beau and tell him that he was stronger, he was stronger than his head, he was stronger than Beau's influence. He was finally strong enough to leave.


	2. Chapter 2

That's where Mitch is now, standing outside a Starbucks at 9AM on a Saturday, hoping he wouldn't get recognised by any fans, but praying he would get recognised by Scott. He knows that Scott is awake he was active earlier that day. Now Mitch waits for him to come and get the drink that Mitch knows that's Scott still has every morning, he would always receive a text at around 9:15AM asking him to meet with Scott at Starbucks, of course he never replied but that didn't stop the texts. He stands outside the coffee shop waiting, and waiting. Not even risking a glance down to make sure that his suitcases were still with him or to check his phone. He leans against one of his suitcases to support him, his weakened state not able to do that much, and he waits, waits for his tall, blonde best friends to come strolling up to the doors and get his regular coffee. He doesn't know how long he stands there for, but he stays, the hood of Scott's Beyonce hoodie up to cover his head from anyone who might recognise him, sunglasses on to cover his dull eyes that held so much light only a couple of years ago, but also to cover his black eye and a cut across his eyebrow which he received the night before.

Scott recognises the hoodie first, it had disappeared from his closet the same time Mitch had disappeared from his life. He wouldn't let it get his hopes up though, it couldn't be Mitch. Mitch hadn't reached out to him in almost 2 years. I couldn't be Mitch, but then the suitcases come into view, he knows that Mitch has the same ones. It could just be a coincidence, Scott knows it's not. The height is the same, the shoes are his style, the suitcases are the same and the hoodie was his before it disappeared. The hooded figure doesn't look down, it looks straight ahead, phone in their hand. Scott walks towards the person, so sure that it's him. It has to be him. Please, please be him.  
"Mitchie?" He spoke in a quiet voice thick with images tears. The figure, Mitch's head whirls round to and Scott's mouth drops.  
"Hi Scotty." He replies with a hoarse voice due to his sore throat.

Scott's seems taller than he was before Mitch had left, but maybe that's because Mitch had lost so much weight since then. Scott doesn't notice any of the bruising, he's to busy wrapping Mitch into a tight hug letting tears fall from his eyes. He finds that his arm would probably be able to wrap around Mitch's body about two or three times. Mitch tensed as soon as the strong arms wrapped around him, he hadn't been hugged in so long. A broken sob escaped him as he buries his face into the crook of Scott's neck and throws his arms around his best friend. Scott's large frame engulfs the smaller one, it's much more noticeable than before.  
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm so so fucking sorry, Scott." Mitch whimpers, his voice breaking a couple times. Scott's heart broke for him, he didn't know why Mitch stopped replying to him, but at this moment it didn't matter, because Mitch was here, with him, nothing mattered for either of them, they were both home.

They had hugged for a long time before they finally decided that they should go inside before a fan recognises them, Mitch definitely wasn't ready for the questions. "Where did you go Mitchie? You just stopped replying." Scot asks quietly his voice still thick with emotion. Mitch shifts uncomfortably in his seat across from the blonde haired man.  
"I promise Scott I had my reasons. Can we talk about this later." He replies quietly in a raspy voice, looking around the coffee shop as if expecting someone to run at him, it was confusing to Scott. He sighs but nods, yes they could talk about why later, all that matters now is that Mitch is back.  
"I'm guessing by the suitcases you're looking for somewhere to stay?" He looks at Mitch hopefully, he can't disappear again, not again. Scott wouldn't let him slip away that easily again. Mitch nods and Scott smiles. "Come with me." Scott puts down the drink he finished and stands up. Mitch is staying, then Scott frowns and looks down at his friend who is slowly standing up.  
"What happened with Beau?" Mitch flinches slightly at the name, his shoulders sinking. That's normal Scott figures, but he doesn't know how serious this conversation will be when it does eventually happen. "Later." Mitch says, his voice so quiet Scott almost missed it. Scott can't however miss the fact that Mitch's body is hunched over his posture not as proud as it used to be.

Scott notices things on their walk home, he notices how much weight Mitch had lost and how weak it had made him. Mitch was currently relying on his two suitcases to hold up his weight, Scott carrying the other one and his large over the shoulder bags. Scott notices this, he notices the slight limp in Mitch's left leg and how every so often Mitch will land on it awkwardly and let out a quiet groan thinking Scott wouldn't hear it, but he hears everyone of them. Scott isn't as oblivious as Mitch thinks he is, but Mitch doesn't need to know this. He notices the way Mitch is so quiet, he doesn't hum a tune, he doesn't talk. He doesn't understand why Mitch is being so distant, it's never been like that for them, they always snap back after not talking for a long time, sometimes stronger than before. Why is he so closed off?

"Mitch it's boiling in here, how are you still in your, well my hoodie?" Scott jokes and Mitch immediately apologises sinking into his chair slightly, he wasn't used to this, the freedom. It was great but after around 3 years of hardly seeing anyone but Beau for a long length of time he is just struggling to adjust. "Mitch it's fine, I was only joking. Are you going to tell me what's wrong?" Scott asks him gently, he looks at Mitch expectantly with an encouraging look. This is what Mitch had always wanted, so why was it so hard to come out and say it? Why was it so hard to come out and say that he had let a man manipulate him into believing he was a failure? Mitch nods and opens his mouth but finds that the words die on his tongue. He can't say it. "I was abused." it was so easy to say in his mind. Why couldn't he say it out loud? Saying it out loud, he realises makes it all too real. It means that someone else shares his burden. It means admitting to someone that he is weak, that he is damaged. It's Scott, he doesn't have to use words. He won't use words, he will just show him. Scott doesn't look away from Mitch as he waits for him to begin talking, but Mitch doesn't start talking, Mitch removes his hood and takes off the sunglasses.

Now it's Scott's turn to not be able to say anything, his best friend is sitting In front of him, his face painted black and blue with a little bit of red. His face is so narrow, his skin strains against his cheekbones the dark shadows under his eyes only adding to his black eye, burst lip and cut up skin breaking through his eyebrows. Mitch doesn't meet Scott's eyes, he can't. He wouldn't be able to handle the heartbreak and guilt that he knows would be obvious in Scott's vision. He feels a hand on his chin and he is gently forced to look up, meet his friends gaze through cloudy eyes.  
"When did this start?" When did it start? Mitch can't even remember, he knows when the physical abuse started, but the mental. Mitch can't pinpoint a time, it had been so gradual.

"The first time that he hit me was in our second year." Mitch says his voice empty yet full of emotion at the same time. Scott doesn't know what to say, how could he have let this happen? He knew something was wrong, yet he did nothing. Mitch could see guilt swirling in his eyes, did Scott think that this was his fault. It could t be Scott's fault, he had tried to contact Mitch but he didn't reply to him, there was nothing he could have done.  
"I'm so sorry Mitchie." Scott says his voice breaking, why is he sorry. He has no reason to be.  
"It's not your fault." Mitch tries to convince him, his voice hoarse, breaking and his hands ringing together nervously. Scott looks down at the floor, ignoring Mitch's attempt of making him feel better.  
"Please Scotty, you have to know that it wasn't your fault. I was the one who shut everyone out. I shut you out, you couldn't have done anything." Scotts head snaps back up to meet Mitch's gaze. Mitch's eyes were wide, glistening slightly with unshed tears, but there is something haunting about them, something different, darker.

"Why didn't you tell me Mitch, why didn't you tell anyone. We could have helped you. Mitchie, I could have helped you." He chokes on his words, his voice breaking a couple of times. He can't bring himself to understand why Mitch couldn't tell him. They used to tell each other everything. "I wanted to talk to you guys, but I wasn't allowed to contact any of you unless i twas about the band, and as long as i wasn't the one who started the conversation. I couldn't bring myself to tell anyone during rehearsals, I almost did so many times, but i would get a text from him or someone else would come over." Mitch says in a rush, frantically trying to get Scott to realise that there was nothing he could have done. Scott scans over his face, searching for anymore injuries that were less noticeable. His eyes zero in to a thin white line on the left side of his forehead and another one just under his right eye. Mitch sighs and lets Scott continue his search, very much relieved by the dull of conversation, it hurt to talk. He can tell that soon there will be more questions later, but he hopes that Scott can see that he wants to stop talking about this subject. Scotts eyes continue to travel across Mitchs face, locating another scar on his jaw. Something else grabs his attention, his eyes narrow as he makes out a purple mark creeping up Mitchs neck, mostly hidden by the turtle neck top he is wearing underneath the hoodie. 

"What happened?" Scott asks , his hands lightly brushing Mitch's covered neck with the tips of his fingers.  
"I know who it was, but tell me why?" Mitch ducks his head, that's a good question. Mitch doesn't have an answer to that question, not one that Scott would accept at least. Of course there were plenty of reasons, it was always because Mitch had done something wrong.  
"He was angry I guess, and I... I just pushed him over the edge." Mitch replies, trying to keep it as simple as possible while still explaining in a way Scott will understand.  
"What would make him angry at you?" There were too many things that Mitch would do that made Beau mad. He looks up at Scott who still has his eyes trained on the bruises on his neck.  
"Anything really. He got jealous really easily and quickly, he was always paranoid that I would run off with someone else, he hated it when I spoke to anyone else but him." Scott nods, his jaw clenched. "That's why I shut everyone out, well I mean there were other reasons as well, but that was the main one." Scott looks up to see Mitch sitting slouched looking down at his hands that are constantly moving. Scott stares at the marks on his best friends neck, knowing that they were either the end result of sex or marks from someones hands. For all he knew it could be both, but he didn't because he couldn't see enough of the bruise to be able to tell which one it was. As if suddenly becoming aware of Scott's stare he straightens his back, his hands stop moving and he looks up.  
"I think that's enough for today." He tells Scott bluntly, no emotion behind his voice. It scares Scott how quickly Mitch can turn off his emotions. It didn't happen before, but then again from what Scott can see and from the little he knows, Mitch has definitely been going through hell these past 4 years.


End file.
